With a burst of energy that caught him off guard, she wrenched herself from him, clawing his hand from her face. He’d left red marks, but she deserved his bitterness and disappointment. Kendall had stolen a million bucks of his money. How the fuck was he supposed to react, give the girl a raise?
With her breathing still heavy and the tears flowing freely now, she backed away from him. “Do you really think I’m so shallow that I’m only interested in material things?”
“You’ve stolen a shitload of money from me, lady. What the hell am I supposed to think? That you’ve given the money to charity. That you’ve used it to help all the starving kids in Africa? Go on, I dare you, tell me that’s what you’ve done with my fucking money.” He banged the flat of his hand against his chest to emphasize his displeasure.
When she didn’t answer immediately, he realized she wasn’t as benevolent as she tried to portray herself. Or, maybe she was? As he intensely scrutinized the downcast individual before him for any solution to the puzzle, he wondered if in his haste to get to the truth he’d misjudged her. Perhaps his anger had clouded his reason. Although a long shot, there was one area he hadn’t touched upon yet.
“Kendall.” This time he made sure his voice was even and lacked the anger he’d deliberately shown before.
The way she wiped the tears from those beautiful blue eyes was so fucking cute, and he longed to dab them away himself or, better still, kiss them away.
“I’m only going to ask you this once, and I want the truth. Do you understand me, honey?”
She nodded her acknowledgment.
“Are you being blackmailed?”
She quickly shook her head. “No. Nothing like that.” Her character suddenly changed out of all recognition, her tears miraculously disappearing. Almost contemptuously, she then raised her head and stared defiantly at him, apparently unafraid to hold his gaze. “No. No blackmailers. You were right all along. I was greedy, and I took the money because I thought I could get away with it. And do you know what, Mr. Buchanan, sir, if I had done, I’d have been back for more. I’m a classy girl. I have a lifestyle to maintain.”
“I see. You’ve made your position crystal clear.” He sat back down behind his desk. The anger he initially felt was starting to be replaced by bitter disappointment. He thought they’d connected, but clearly she’d duped him, and he figured that Kendall Van Heusen was an accomplished prick teaser, one who used men to her advantage. Her beauty and charm had obviously blinded him to the soulless money-grabbing bitch she really was.
An exquisitely attractive money-grabbing bitch, and one I still want to fuck senseless.
He knew he should despise her for what she’d done to him. For the trust she’d abused, but in fact, at this precise moment in time, he was more sexually attracted to the woman than ever.
Her confession couldn’t have been more blatant. I was greedy, and I took the money because I thought I could get away with it. She’d only shown contrition when she’d thought there was a possibility of getting away with what she’d done. But as soon as he’d made it clear that he knew everything, that contrition had vanished as quickly as an iceberg in the Sahara.
Truth be known, her callous and totally selfish approach to the whole episode surprised him. He’d always thought himself a good judge of character, especially when it came to women, but on this occasion it looked like he’d fucked up big time.
Mac folded his arms across his chest and stared at her across the desk. “What would you do in my position?”
“Call the police.”
“Me, too.”
“And are you going to?”
“I’m undecided.”
“Why?”
“Your story would make great copy, gifting my competitors extra sales. It’s not good business to let everyone know that Buchanan Enterprises employs criminals.”
She nodded. “Yes, I can see that. So what do you propose?”
“I propose you come right over here, right this minute, and stand before me. In fact, I demand it of you.”
“Okay.”
He briefly saw a smile arc across her beautiful full lips before fading away as quickly as it came. As she drew closer to him, he reached across and yanked her onto his lap. “Let’s cut the crap, Kendall. You want me sexually as much as I want you.”
She didn’t answer, but she didn’t dispute his words either.
“Therefore I have a business proposition.”
“Go on.” The beautiful smile returned, lasting a little longer this time.
“My proposition is this. I own you, mind, body, and soul for the next ten days. You’ll be mine to do with as I please. When each twenty-four hour period elapses, one hundred thousand dollars of the one million dollars you stole from me will be written off. After ten days under my total and complete control, you will owe me nothing. Do you understand?”